Playing (Un)Fairly
by heartachequisition
Summary: Well, to be completely honest, Takane was only doing this because of Haruka so he better be grateful. After he gets jealous, of course, and she could feel bad for Shintaro being in the midst of it all but ... you know. HaruTaka, side ShinAya.
1. Rule 1: There are No Rules

**A/N: **It seems like a ShinTaka/HaruAya but really it is just another cliché jealousy game fic for HaruTaka/ShinAya. I'm still trying to find my way with writing (since before this KagePro I hadn't written fanfics for _years_) so when I get more comfortable, I'll try and write for different pairings!

My goal is to one day write polyamorous yuukei quartet! I will just have to creep towards that… slowly…

Also I am so sorry for all the chapter fics. I write when I get stressed so it's hard for me to stay consistent ;; I will definitely finish each one though, promise...!

* * *

"And why the hell I should _I _help you?" Shintaro threw down his controller and crossed his arms irritably, competitive gaming attitude lost. "I don't see how your problems even matter to me."

"Because you're my friend?" Takane growled in response, holding back the urge to punch him, "You should be nice to friends, anyway! Who knows, they might end up leaving you and you'll be forever alone… again."

"Yeah, whatever." The black-haired boy straightened his school jacket and stood up. "I'll come over and smash you at Dead Bullet when you've learned to absorb some common sense."

The older girl lunged at him, preventing his escape. "Kisaragi, you suck. I'm actually trying to be civil with you for once in our goddamn lives so can you just please do this for me just this once? "

He almost laughed. "I don't get why you don't just tell him-"

Takane threw a pillow at his face. "Help me, or I'm just going to let everyone know about your gross gamer crush on my OC-"

"That was _one time_! And I was drunk, you shithead-"

"- and I'm going to tell Haruka about the one time you recoloured Konoha to look like you- "

"Oh my god, Takane, that was an accident!"

"He was so mad, dude!" She nudged him in the side, and Shintaro sputtered. "Something about colour co-ordination and the fact that Konoha looked like a serial killer, remember?"

He sighed in disbelief. "Why are you blackmailing me for something like this?"

"Help me."

"I'm not convinced."

Takane frowned. She knew acting innocent wouldn't work on this asshole anymore, so she had to resort to the pits of her Shintaro stories to show her the way.

Aha.

"I'm telling Ayano about the one time you swapped her scarf for a new one because you wanted to keep her scent like the creep that you are-"

"HOW DID YOU EVEN KNOW ABOUT THAT?!"

"Okay, but what about when you swapped your test with Ayano's on her birthday so she would get a 100-"

"ENOMOTO I SWEAR-"

"Remember that time when Ayano and Haruka forced you to beg me for forgiveness? That was golden, Shintaro, golden-"

"ALRIGHT. ALRIGHT. FINE." Pushing the girl off, Shintaro scowled fiercely and stormed out the door shouting, "STOP IT. I'LL HELP YOU, JUST STOP."

Takane grinned, her expression lighting up. "Thanks, friend."

* * *

"… well in the end, you're pretty much pretending to be my lover and that's it. You think you can do it without screwing up?"

Takane and Shintaro sat in the dining room of her grandmother's house, sipping cups of lemonade and cola respectively as Takane briefed the reluctant younger student of her plan. Shintaro looked the most unenthused he had ever looked, and Takane thought it was probably a record.

If anyone was keeping a record of Shintaro's unamused faces, this definitely took the cake.

"No. I'm not doing it." Dread filled the boy's head, as Takane huffed and tapped the table. He felt a little bad that she didn't have the gall to feel bad about lying to Haruka and Ayano - but hey, she was nuts. They had established the fact ages ago.

"It's not that bad. We don't have to make out or anything, ew." She downed her glass and proceeded to stare him down from across the table. "Remember the stakes, kid. Remember the stakes."

"I seriously don't get why you don't just tell him properly-"

"Stakes."

Slamming his head onto the wooden table, he groaned in resignation. The things he did to save his own dignity. "Okay. Fine. Whatever. One week."

"Yeah, okay. Starting now?"

"Starting now-wait, what do you mean now?"

"Off we go!" Takane wrenched him from his chair and out of the house, quickly darting to the nearest coffee shop where they would apparently have to set up camp for the next few hours. Shintaro mourned the loss of his drink the whole way there.

* * *

Haruka could only really say he was kind of more than a little confused when he was walking to the convenience store and saw Takane and Shintaro having lunch together next door.

His classmate and his underclassman were tolerating each other for once, quietly chatting and sending each other smiles every now and then. It was slightly unnerving, but he supposed no-one else would find it so if they didn't personally know the teenagers.

To any onlooker, it would just seem like two high schoolers on a date – but Haruka knew one thing. Takane and Shintaro didn't _date._

Or at least, he was sure they didn't.

Someone would've told him, right?

He hesitated in approaching them, not wishing to interrupt whatever they were doing but something in his gut told him he should anyway. Not because he had anything against them if they were on a date; he could just leave if they were, couldn't he?

Despite everything, he still felt it though. The distinct pang of _jealousy._

"Takane! Shintaro!" Waving, Haruka walked up to them, noting Takane stiffen and Shintaro shoot him an incredulous look.

Takane started to stammer, "H-hey. Haruka-" Before Shintaro kicked Takane from under the table, effectively cutting her off. He shoved a fork in her mouth to keep her from speaking as he took control.

"What do you want, Kokonose?"

Haruka smiled a little awkwardly. Takane never let him feed her, but she was letting Shintaro? "I just… saw you guys and wanted to say hi? I mean, I'm sorry if I was interrupting-"

"Yeah, in case you hadn't noticed, it's rude to butt in."

'God, you're the rude one, Kisaragi.' The gamer girl bit out internally, trying not to choke on the massive chunk of cake in her mouth. As much of a jerk he may be, Takane had to acknowledge the fact that Shintaro was a pretty talented actor. That, and she owed him a lot for saving her from ruining her own plan.

Waving a casual hand, Shintaro crossed his legs and stared up at Haruka challengingly. "Sorry not to tell you sooner. We were gonna announce it on Monday, but we're together."

Haruka blinked, taking a few moments to process this. _How? Since when?_ "You're together…?"

"That's what I said."

_Why? _ He kept all his questions at bay, opting for a head tilt and a bite of his sandwich instead. It was just so sudden he didn't know what to think.

"So did you want to sit or…?" Takane piped up after she had swallowed the cake and shot a discreet glare at Shintaro. "We can get you an extra chair."

"No, it's fine! I don't mind standing."

Despite constantly telling himself 'it was okay', Haruka sighed quietly. What was he going to do if they started acting lovey-dovey with each other? The boy didn't think he could handle something like that.

He excused himself shortly after, not sure how long he could stay the third wheel on their date and not sure how long he could fight these conflicting feelings inside him. Haruka supposed he had never been jealous of anyone like that before – but he and Takane had been friends since middle school and no-one else had ever interfered until now… it was selfish of him and he knew it.

He should be happy for them. He _would _be happy for them; he just needed time to accept this.

Just as Haruka turned the corner, a hand shot out and pulled him back to earth.

Brown hair and bright eyes, Ayano Tateyama who completed their quartet of friends, stood in front of him with a questioning look. Her red scarf was waving out behind her as if it were possessed.

"You okay, Haruka?"

"Hm, Ayano? Yeah…?" Still a little dazed, he wrinkled his nose. "Why?"

"You looked kinda sad, is all." The brunette commented sweetly, eyebrows furrowing in concern. "Is it because of Shintaro and Takane?"

He forced a smile, "No… no, everything is fine."

She didn't buy it, but she also didn't pry. Instead, Ayano dragged him to the closest park, where they sat on the park benches and she suddenly asked: "Say, do you want to team up with me on something?"

"Team up?"

"Yeah. Because…" Her voice dropped down to a whisper, "I think their relationship is fake."

"But then why…?"

She grinned mischievously. "I know who Takane likes, and it definitely isn't Shintaro."

Haruka scratched his cheek, _was that how it was? _"Ayano, what are you…?"

"Do you want to play their game?"

"Game?"

Ayano pulled her scarf up over her mouth and struck a pose.

"If anyone asks, they started it."

Confused, Haruka hesitantly copied her pose.

"We're playing a game?"

"Mhm! I guess we'll call this… the 'jealousy' game." Ayano tapped her temple. "First person to cave loses. Shintaro and Takane can be team 1, and we'll be team 2!"

He struggled to find reasons to protest – Haruka really didn't want to intervene in the relationship even if it did make him a little jealous. "But isn't this a little unfair?"

"Eh? Unfair? How?"

"I mean, we're trying to break them up? Fake or not, they just got together and...!"

"Shh. Shhhh." She pressed a finger to her mouth. "Trust me on this one. It'll be tough but in the end, everyone will be happy, okay?"

"O-okay."

"Let the games begin!"


	2. Rule 2: Obey the Mothership

**A/N: **If you judge me a lot after reading this, I don't blame you. I am literally running on three hours of sleep and I'm _loving it. _Okay, well, I'm not enjoying it that much but writing this just gave me the greatest joy and feel free to slap me because I probably need some of that. Come at me! … but not too hard, because I'll probably cry.

Slight warning for italics abuse ;;

* * *

"… did you see that?" Takane asked as she quickly hid behind the massive parfait she had eventually ordered for them both – the tall, pink one Shintaro gazed at with much scepticism and disgust – pointing over to the flower shop across the road. _Takane. _He complained internally. _I don't care, I want to go home._

Despite himself, he turned with much reluctance, and almost did a spit-take at the sight.

Haruka and Ayano (of course it was Ayano, even from the back no-one could mistake her for anyone else) stood admiring flowers, as they both chatted amiably with the florists at work. There were practically flowers floating around their heads; and no, it was not the cause of an active imagination. Probably.

And wait, was that flowers in Haruka's _mouth_? God, the thirst was real.

The scene, as it seemed, unfolded like this. Ayano's sweet, beautiful face – wait, that's not the point here – moved as she said something, literal sparkles in her eyes as she threw glitter into the air. The gluttonous older boy smiled down at the brunette, threading a flower in her hair as they spoke further, and Shintaro could hear Takane chewing on her spoon from where he sat.

She was getting an idea again, and he didn't like where this was going.

"We're going to just ignore that-" Shintaro started, before Takane threw the soggy cherry from the parfait at him.

"No." She pronounced loudly, "We are not."

He sighed, letting his eyes wander back to his phone. "It's just two friends hanging out, why do you always get such strange ideas?"

"They're kissing!" Takane exclaimed suddenly, and at the speed he turned his head, he could've broken his neck.

Obviously, they weren't kissing. Or doing anything, really. Though he felt his stomach coil at the sight nonetheless. _Why the hell did he feel sick, his immune system was supposed to be made of steel – _

His companion broke into a fit of laughter at his reaction, before catching herself and ducking back behind the parfait. She grinned still, and in a lowered voice she said, "Well, well, I didn't think you'd actually fall for that."

Shintaro didn't think he could rescue himself after that one so he opted for reminding Takane who really had the upper hand. "… I still have a higher score than you in Dead Bullet, and I've dominated the Soda Society scoreboard. I've also been the only one to ever hit 100 in Headphone Actor; a game that you were supposedly the best at."

Her mood instantly soured. "You're an ass. Be quiet."

A girlish squeal caught their attention again, as the two grump-pots of society twirled to face the flower shop once more. Ayano had apparently tripped on something, and had her arms wrapped tightly around Haruka's waist, as the florists were rushing to see if she was okay. Haruka was watching her with concern, of course, not at all fazed by the physical contact.

Takane stood abruptly, and Shintaro was just about to grab her so she didn't destroy anything, when she pulled out her phone and started taking pictures. Or tried to, and was failing.

"Uh, what are you doing?" It was half-whispered by Shintaro; some curious people behind them were starting to stare and he was getting uncomfortable. "Takane, sit down."

"Can't stop, won't stop." She frowned back at him, before going up to the window to take a closer shot. At this angle, she could see them perfectly. Both Haruka's gorgeous smile and Ayano's quirky bashfulness stared back at her through her crappy phone screen, and Takane squinted at it.

_Actually, didn't they look slightly uncomfortable?_ She almost knocked over a potted plant trying to take a better picture.

Torn between staying with the atrocious parfait or risk embarrassment pulling the lively Takane back, Shintaro leaned to the side and went back to browsing on his phone.

If anyone asked, he didn't know her. Nor did he know where that stupid pink parfait came from. He was A+ cool guy Shintaro from the land of the cool dudes.

He had also somehow misjudged something though, as he slipped off his chair with a loud crash, alerting everyone around him. Takane jumped a good three feet in the air, pigtails flying in and made her way back to their table with an unnerving calm.

She quickly dismissed any working staff that came by, claiming this was an 'ordinary occurrence' and her 'friend was naturally weird, so please make sure none of the other customers got scared of him' and things like that.

"You okay, man?" She asked, only slightly concerned. If Takane hadn't known it was Shintaro, she was pretty sure she'd be a little more than scared. The figure on the ground resembled Haruka a little too much to be reassuring, as it was. She briefly wondered if Shintaro got rid of his dead fish eyes and fluffed up his hair (and stature); would he look considerably more like Haruka?

"Give me a moment, sheesh." Shintaro groaned, his harsh, edgy tone bringing her back to reality. Yeah, even if he looked like him, the guy's personality needed fixing. That, or it was possible that no-one's good qualities could ever rival Haruka's in her eyes anyway – but she was never going to admit it.

"You don't have a moment," Takane replied impatiently, stealing another glance at the proper, angelic Haruka with Ayano across the street. The jealousy in her was rising (hey, bloody unfair by the way since this was _her _game to begin with), but she quietened it by slapping herself in the face, just once. Then she turned back to Shintaro. "We've got another mission to complete."

Shintaro groaned again, legs kicking out lamely like a worm on dry land. "If you say that, maybe I'll just never get up again."

He missed the mischievous look on her face.

"I can't believe you just broke up with me! You're the worst!" She suddenly wailed loudly, storming out before he could get another word in.

Confused, Shintaro sat up only to be met by the scornful glances of the people around the café. "Uh," he started, "I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding…"

It was then he realised that Takane had left him to pay. That _little shit._

* * *

Everything was just plain awkward on the other side. There was no other way to describe it, and Ayano was weird when she got jittery – Haruka was sure he didn't imagine her mumbling "hey lil mama lemme whisper in your ear" to the dust bunny on his jumper, after all.

"Hey, you're standing on my feet…" Haruka told Ayano, bending down to whisper in her ear as she hugged him with much strain. She stepped off apologetically, almost falling backwards before he continued. "Are they looking?"

"Yes, well, at least one of them should be." Awkwardly, she knocked his chin with her forehead in an attempt to nod. "I think, I guess, I suppose."

They weren't used to each other just yet – friendship aside – and their heights made for strange configurations while they tried to work out how to hug without ramming a body part into the other person. Distantly, Haruka winced at the thought of all the bruises he must have garnered from Ayano's restless shifting. But anything for a friend, he supposed. Maybe.

"We've been hugging for like 10 minutes now." He pointed out casually, and Ayano shot him a sheepish smile.

"Yay…?"

"I think…?"

"Yay."

"Okay."

Now this usually wouldn't have been a problem if it was not for the fact that they were doing it to make their friends envious, and Haruka didn't quite know how that worked but he figured Ayano at least knew what she was doing. Again, probably. And again, probably not.

"They're eating sweets together." Ayano added softly, as if that information would help them in the slightest.

"They are?" It did, however, prompt Haruka into holding her tighter. Food was life. Food was power. And the flowers he was chewing on weren't going to hold out much longer. "What are they eating?"

"Er, it looks like a … it looks like a fluffy, pink mountain. With ears." She described cautiously, trying to peer over Haruka's shoulder without falling on top of him again. Then, she shrank back down. "They've both got their phones out, but Takane's at the window."

"Code… 0?"

"Code 6."

"So Plan A?"

"Plan BBB," She answered lightly, nuzzling into the warmth of her friend's jumper. Haruka stiffened a little, but being naturally affectionate himself, he soon relaxed. Also, if he thought about it, their conversation made no sense whatsoever.

… was Ayano drunk somehow? But the only thing that had gotten into her mouth was … glitter…

A crash from the café's direction broke them apart.

"Stupid Shintaro," muttered Ayano under her breath, though when asked about it, she gave the most blindingly radiant smile that Haruka forgot who he was for a second.

Dusting themselves off, Ayano and Haruka glanced over to the café in concern. When they noticed a snickering Takane and a fuming Shintaro exiting moments later, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank god, I thought something happened to them- ah?" Startled, Ayano was pulled into another hug by Haruka and he smiled nervously back at her.

They were holding hands, Shintaro and Takane, and that was it. The unfamiliar wrench of jealousy returned. But no matter what, Haruka wasn't going to crack... he was sunshine-and-laughter, not cyanide-and-slaughter...

"Hey, Ayano?"

"Yes?"

Despite himself, Haruka blurted, "Can you teach me how to be Shintaro?"

"Um … what?"

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

* * *

"Stop being such a baby and take my hand."

Shintaro was skittering away at the words, and no matter how hard Takane glared at him, he wasn't going to be seen in public holding hands with her. Besides… it was weird. Everything about this was weird. He was still mad at her, by the way.

He seriously contemplated running off, but with his impressive (read: impressively bad) PE skills, he'd surely get caught by Takane within seconds.

"Look." She pulled him closer to her, forcefully intertwining their fingers. Holding back a grimace, her free hand jabbed him in the chest. She held his hand so tightly he couldn't feel his fingers anymore. "That isn't so bad, is it?"

"You're going to pull my hand off with you when you let go." He complained dismally.

"Is this the first time you've ever held hands with someone? You should know that's not how it works."

"What if it is?"

"… I can't believe I'm the first person you've ever held hands with." A smirk crept onto Takane's face before she could help herself. "Great job, Shintaro."

"I can't believe I just admitted that to you."

"You are so –"

"Yeah, I know."

Onto a more… positive note.

Today, Shintaro learned that Takane was the master of subtlety. He supposed he was going to come up with all the plans from now on, considering that she was causing so much trouble.

They actually just walked straight into them – well, Takane bumped into Haruka while dragging Shintaro with her – and almost sent the hugging pair flying. Ayano tittered, stepping on Haruka more than a few times before Takane tugged on Shintaro's hand, sending the poor guy hurtling towards his classmate.

"WHOOPS." Takane declared loudly, shamelessly, and Shintaro cringed visibly at how utterly fake it sounded. It did the trick though, kinda, if sending Ayano toppling back on top of Haruka was the plan. Wait. It wasn't. She screwed up, _good job Takane._

And he knew she knew it too, because soon she was racing away with him again, the grip on his hand deathly as he struggled to keep up.

Before long, the duo of flowers and sparkles had given chase.

If this really was a grand master spectacle to make a certain someone jealous, Shintaro thought it was safe to assume it worked.

"You're crazy!" Shintaro told Takane brashly, and she shrugged, tugging him further forward. He could barely catch his breath now, and she was the same – just faring a little better. Takane knew if she looked back for even a second, the other pair would catch them, so she just kept speeding forward.

Shintaro grunted in annoyance when she didn't respond. "Were you dropped on your head as a child? Is that why you're so loopy?"

"You shut up!" She panted, realising she was more out of breath than she thought. "Do you like Ayano or do you not?"

_No way in hell did he like that annoying, irritating, clingy, charming, adorable bundle of - _"This isn't even about-"

"Then shut up and keep running!"

A banana flew out of nowhere, hitting him square on the forehead. Such is the life of Shintaro.

Meanwhile, Ayano who was practically carrying Haruka and his banana stash was in hot pursuit of the … er, couple. Haruka was having second thoughts about being hauled into this, but he couldn't complain – he had a free ride and free food, so what more could a guy need?

"I don't understand how far she intends on taking this but they're not getting away until justice is served!" Ayano rambled, all fiery and raising a clenched fist to begin her motivational anime speech. What really came out was, "I can't believe this stupid game took away Shintaro's hand-holding virginity, _I _wanted to hold his hand first, can you _believe _this?"

Haruka only laughed, completely and utterly done. Also Takane was cute when she was mad. Also that was irrelevant. When his mode of transport frowned at his silence, he shot her a delayed grin, nervous, "I know, right?"

"Did _you _want to hold Shintaro's hand too?" She asked almost indignantly.

"What? That… that's not what I meant but…"

"Haruka, I can't _believe _you!"

"I didn't say that!"

Suddenly, ahead of them, Takane was screeching as she slipped over some sort of fruit that… wait, when had he thrown that banana? Sorry Takane…

It was around that point when Shintaro, the lucky (or not so lucky) guy collided straight into Takane's back, sending them sprawling in a mess of limbs.

With the speed Ayano stopped, he could have sworn the souls of his bananas were floating away into the abyss. "Farewell, my friends…" Haruka whispered, before again the twist of jealousy engulfed him – his junior was on Takane, red alert, red alert, he was_ on_ her –

Haruka felt himself snarl (internally, because he didn't do mean things in the big open world) protectively, but stopped himself from any further action just yet. He could stay calm, right? That's what Takane would want…

And then, trust Shintaro, he fainted. Right there. On top of her, which of course, led Takane to react immediately. After throwing him into a telephone pole, Shintaro was back to his senses and seemed to completely disregard his surroundings as he went back to talk to Takane, the two of them clasping hands once more.

A dark look overtook Ayano's face. But her smile remained, like a ticking time bomb counting down on her angelic features. "Looks like..." she had the courtesy to giggle, but it came out almost broken. "We'll have to step up a notch, won't we?"

Suddenly, Haruka didn't want to play this game anymore.

_And that, my friends, concludes our first demonstration so wisely titled, "All my friends scare the living shit out of me": a biography by Haruka Kokonose. _


End file.
